Renew Your Mind & Transform Your Life

The purpose of this message is to reinforce the concept of your individual divine potential once you are saved. I hope to encourage you to aggressively pursue yours and achieve the better quality of life that God desires for you to have.

Overview – Two Kinds of People in the World

The Saved and the Lost

Now from the Word of God, we are to understand there are two types of people. Those that are saved and those that are lost.

Jn 8:42–44 (NKJV) — 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

The Saved Love the Lord Jesus and God is their Father

The Lost do the works of Satan and the Devil is their Father

Jesus said about his own:

Jn 10:27 (NKJV) — 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

We have to be trained to know his voice. We have to learn his voice so that we may follow him. We have been inundated with the voices of the world. They have been used to confuse us so that we will either not hear him or not know his voice when he speaks.

Mind renewal helps us to recognize his voice and disciplines us to follow him.

Jn 3:3 (NKJV) — 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jn 3:16–19 (NKJV) — 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

The parallel between light and darkness. There is no middle ground. You either or light or you are darkness. There is no in between. The world would like to say their shades of gray. There are positions that are in between but not in the mind of God.

You are either hot or cold! You either obey or disobey! You are either saved or lost!

The world likes to say there are multiple ways to the father, but there is only one way!

2 Co 5:17 (NKJV) — 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Ro 8:28–31 (NKJV) — 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Eph 1:3–5 (NKJV) — 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

We will do this considering four areas of discussion

1) The Inferior Mind of the Lost.

2) The Need for a Renewed Mind

3) The Superior Mind of the Saved

4) The Work Of God In Transforming Your Life

Come now, let us reason together.

1) The Inferior Mind of the Lost.

Ge 1:26 (NKJV) — 26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

Man was created in the image and likeness of God. He had access to the infinite knowledge and wisdom of God. He was created part divinity and part humanity; part heaven and part earth; part spirit and part natural. He had a tremendous infinite potential being the apex of God's creation.

But man chose to reject the infinite wisdom of God and decided only to know the knowledge of good and evil from the source of a tree created by God. He limited himself to only experiencing the knowledge of the world. Man unknowingly had stunted his growth and development by detaching himself from his unlimited divine source.

Man's most significant error in life, then and now, was to seek knowledge from things of the world and disrespect and deny the creator of those things.

Ro 1:20–32 (NKJV) — 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

Thus, violating the first two commandments of God.

Ex 20:1–4 (NKJV) — 1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

We can only imagine what God had in store for the first Adam and his generations had he chosen to obey his creator. Because of man's violation, he would now experience an inferior state of existence and would be subject to an inferior mind disconnected from the mind of God. He was sentenced to live in a natural world, having limited access to the Kingdom of God. All mankind subsequently has been limited because of this choice.

The Lost from this point on would squander away his life seeking after the things of the world, being blind to the reality God desired more for him.

There is only so much a mind not freed by the Spirit of God can conceive. It is limited to the confines of the natural world. Man could never be what God intended for him to be.

1 Co 2:14 (NKJV) — 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Thus, the mind of the unbeliever is inferior to the mind of the believer.

The Need for a Renewed Mind

Ro 12:2 (NKJV) — 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The world does not want us to have a renewed mind. It wants us to have the mind of the world and follow the prince of this world.

2 Pe 1:3–4 (NKJV) — 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

God has great and wonderful things for us. We understand this for eternity but God also has blessings for us here and now. That is his Word when he says Jn 10:10 (NKJV) — 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.

These are the words of Christ and speak to the here and the ever after. We can live a blessed life now, and it is worthwhile for us to live a life pursuing those things that we may have presumed unattainable. They may have seemed impossible simply because of the lack of sufficient current modern-day examples. However, as the Scripture says, nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or few (1 Samuel 14:6).

We must have a mind that believes that God will work on our behalf. When we develop that way of thinking, we will see the hand of God come to pass in our life as it did in the lives of the biblical characters we admire.

Mt 19:26 (NKJV) — 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Mk 9:23 (NKJV) — 23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."

Listen! Just because a thing has not been done does not mean that it cannot be done. Nor because we haven't seen, it doesn't mean that we won't see it. We must come to realize who we really are. We are children of God exceedingly blessed by God and promised to have the ability to do more wondrous works than Christ Himself.

Jn 14:12 (NKJV) — 12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

Jesus also said:

Jn 15:7 (NKJV) — 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

The Bible has tremendous examples of people that saw remarkable things because they had faith based upon the Word of God they heard. Then, when they believed firmly in their mind and acted on what they believed, God brought it to pass for them.

The Scripture says Pr 23:7 (NKJV) — 7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Therefore, you need to recognize that your ability to excel is directly related to how you think. If your thinking is limited, your life will be limited.

If you can enslave a person in their mind, you never have to worry about them seeking freedom. They cannot think of being free and will never attempt to be free. What you cannot conceive, you cannot believe. What you cannot think, you cannot achieve.

When an elephant has been trained to think if he staked to the ground, he can't move beyond it; he is made a slave. Though he has tremendous power to pull the stake from the ground, he never tries.

The world has trained us to limit ourselves according to the ways of the world. We are like the elephant tied by a stake in the world's way of thinking.

When we are born again, we are no longer citizens of the world. We are citizens of heaven, with the power of God in our disposal but our training by the world limits our possibilities by limiting our thinking. We continue to think like the world and not the children of God that we are.

The most distinguishing feature of all the creatures God created was man. He gave him a mind that made him superior to every other created being.

Satan, our adversary, recognized this distinguishing feature of our minds and used it to manipulate man. Likewise, our human adversaries do the same. If one can control the way a person thinks, you own that person.

[[[[[[Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels of Nazi Germany fine-tuned the art of manipulating people by controlling what they thought. He stated that if you repeat a lie frequently enough, people will sooner or later believe it. It is written into our very being as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. If a man believes in the lie, he will be controlled by the lie. For what a fool believes, he sees.

Societies and people have been controlled by what they are taught to think and believe. Satan likewise has enslaved humanity by convincing man to deny the existence of his creator or limiting his thoughts of his creator's ability or will to act on their behalf; Thereby causing a lack of faith. Without faith, it is impossible to receive anything from God.

If a man feels that he cannot achieve a thing in his mind, he must first be released from that bondage to experience that thing. The world will always insist on conformity to its ways. The world will always insist on all traveling the Broad Road with everyone lining up to think the same way. Thus the masses are enslaved by groupthink. they are compelled by others to never allowed an open minds to the possibility of other ways of thinking.

This is the reason why Jesus said Mt 7:13–14 (NKJV) — 13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

When one enters the narrow gate and journeys on the Narrow Road, he has committed himself to seek those things that the masses reject. When one enters the Narrow Gate, he is given a new spirit that gives him the ability to tap into the Word of God and see things that were hidden and an inconceivable by the natural mind.

When one hears the Word of God, as the sower sows it, and it falls on fertile ground – a mind receptive to it – the Spirit gives it life. Then, that person who hears becomes free to experience life as the Spirit so leads. (Mark 4:20).]]]]

3) The Superior Mind of the Saved

For those who accept Christ, the Scripture says he will give a new heart and a new spirit and deliver them from all adversity.

Eze 36:25–30 (NKJV) — 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. 29 I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.

Being born again, we have the power of the Spirit of God within us that renews our minds building our faith and transforming us more into the image and likeness of God in Christ.

Then, as His children, we ask and receive the things of God that have been denied to the unbelievers. Because we have the Spirit of God, the more of the Word of God we hear, the more our minds are renewed, and then more and more, we are transformed.

Jesus said:

Eph 5:8 (NKJV) — 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

Eph 5:10 (NKJV) — 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

Eph 5:13 (NKJV) — 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.

When we renew our minds by the Word of God, we become free from the bondage of a mind that has been enslaved to the world's way of thinking. We are freed from an inferior mind that blinded us from the life indeed granted to us by God.

Why should we continue to limit ourselves when we can be free? Why should we walk when we can soar on the wings of Eagles? Why do we attempt to do more in life when we can become more in life?

Many of us are trying to be successful in this world. Our focus is wrong! This world is not our eternal home. Jesus told us

Mt 6:33 (NKJV) — 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Mk 8:36 (NKJV) — 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

This is the reason we are told,

2 Ti 2:15 (NKJV) — 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.

Our focus in life should be to become students of the Word.

Dt 32:47 (NKJV) — 47 For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this Word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess."

When we stand before God, we do not want to be ashamed when we come to know there were things that we suffered in this life that was easily dismissible by the power of the Word that dwelled within us.

Look at the incredible mind of Moses. He drafted the first five books of the Bible and revealed the mind of God to the world. Consider his mind and how he expanded it by simply asking God to show him his ways that he might know him. You can do the same!

Ex 33:13 (NIV84) — 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."

Like Moses, we have to endeavor to make an effort to climb to the top of the mountain to meet with God. We meet him in his Word, and his Word renews our mind. Then, we begin to think differently, and from this mind comes new thoughts transforming our lives.

David made an effort to connect with God by meditating upon the Word of God. Look at the results:

Ps 119:97–100 (NKJV) — 97 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. 98 You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts.

It's God's will that we are fruitful. But how can we be productive if we do not remain attached to the vine? We must stay rooted in the Word of God.

Jn 15:4 (NKJV) — 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

When we stay in the Word of God, God directs us to things that make our lives better. There 24 hours in the day. No matter how efficient we are using those hours, there is no benefit if we are doing things that are not beneficial. Paul says,

1 Co 10:23 (NIV84) — 23 "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive.

We must spend time in the Word getting our minds renewed so that we no longer do what is just permissible, but we do what is beneficial. By doing the beneficial, we excel in all that we do.

We will not be given more than 24 hours in each day, but we can be given wisdom on how to use more beneficially each hour of the day.

When we begin each day tapping into the unlimited resource of the mind of God by reading the Word of God, we begin to see things as they are and see things as they can become. The boundaries of mortal men no longer restrict us. We have available to us the realm of the supernatural.

We now have the mind of Christ. We need to learn how to operate with that mind. We need to discard the mentality we were born with and embrace the mind of Christ.

We need to realize that God is a creator and because we are in the image and likeness of God, we too are creators. When faced with impossible odds, God can give us the wisdom to create a way out of no way.

Php 4:13 (NKJV) — 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

We no longer must do as we desire but do as the father instructs us, just like Jesus did what his father told him to do.

Jn 6:38 (NKJV) — 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

When we perceive a work God has given us to do in our minds, we have the confidence to do it because it is not we who do it but he who dwells within us.

Php 2:13 (NKJV) — 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

The miracles and more extraordinary things that Jesus said would occur will occur because the will of the father will be done through us.

4) The Work Of God In Transforming Your Life

Satan, and the world, do not want the children of God to become aware of their spiritual power.

Their control and manipulation of the children of God is contingent upon them not knowing who they are. Just like in warfare, Satan wants to destroy the lines of communication of the father to his children.

Ho 4:6 (NKJV) — 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Satan tries to prevent us from hearing the voice of our father. He is the prince of the power of the air.

Eph 2:1–3 (NKJV) — 1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

Eph 2:8–10 (NKJV) — 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Like the children of Israel, when they were physically freed from bondage in Egypt, they were still enslaved in their minds to the Egyptians. Many of the people of God are still enslaved to the world. Therefore Scripture has said,

Ro 12:2 (NKJV) — 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Only by the renewing of the mind by the Word of God that takes root in the heart of a believer is a person set free to experience life in its fullness the way God originally intended for it to be live.

Because we know it is God’s will for us to be transformed…

Lk 8:15 (NKJV) — 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the Word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

1) The Inferior Mind of the Lost.

2) The Need for a Renewed Mind

3) The Superior Mind of the Saved

4) The Work Of God In Transforming Your Life

The purpose of this message was to reinforce the concept of your individual divine potential once you are saved. I hope to have encouraged you to aggressively pursue yours and achieve the better quality of life that God desires for you to have.